This week has been flying by! I can't believe it's already Thursday. Monday we went to a clinic in Cato Manor which was a really informative and valuable experience, more on that later. Tuesday was pretty much a typical day at SIT and Wednesday was filled with some fun adventures.
Monday: we went to Cato Clinic as a group for a tour of the facilities as well as an information session about the clinic. I was surprised at how nice the facilities were. We got to tour the maternity ward, the HIV/AIDS ARV clinic, as well as the rehabilitative center. Learning about how the clinic worked was helpful for gaining a better understanding of the health care system in South Africa which has both a private and public sector.
Tuesday: Zulu lessons and lectures at school. Zulu is an interesting language. I'm understanding it on paper, not so much in a conversation setting. Which is funny because that's the opposite of my French skills. I'm much better at conversation than writing. Granted, I know way more in French than I do in Zulu. We have a written quiz on Monday which I'm not too worried about, but the oral exam in a few weeks should be interesting....
When I got home on Tuesday, Smu and I decided we were going for a run then play a little football. Before our run around the grounds (the soccer field), she was smack talking me! She thought she was going to run faster than me and further than me (remember she's only 11). We got to the field and began running. She only made it the first lap, actually, she didn't even finish the first lap. She sat with the soccer ball while I finished running. After my quick little run, we started to kick the ball around. As soon as we started playing, kids swarmed to us to play with us! It was so fun playing soccer with all the little kids. I now totally understand how sports like soccer can bridge cultural and language gaps. Despite our differences (age, gender, nationality, cultural group, socio-economic background) we all knew how to play the game and how to have fun.
Wednesday:
Yesterday was quite the adventure. Most notably 3 major events occurred.
1) I was getting ready to take a shower at the SIT house after running with a bunch of the girls in my class. I accidentally bumped into the trash can causing it to fall over. A HUGE cockroach scurried out and was frantically scurring around the bathroom. I was terrified!!! But I was already about to get in the shower anyways so I just got in the shower and hoped the roach would leave me alone. So every few seconds I would pull open the shower curtain to check the roach's location. The damn thing kept moving around the room. When I finally finished the shower, it was underneath where my clothes were hanging. I had to wait a few minutes until it moved to quickly grab my clothes, put them on and then get out of the bathroom.
2) All the students decided to go to an rugby tournament at University of KwaZulu-Natal. Although it was a tournament between the different academic departments, we figured it would be fun to be a part of a college campus environment since we're missing out on our campus experiences this semester. It was nice to be on a college campus again. However, getting to the field and leaving the field was an adventure. There are little gates with the roundabout doorways to get to and from the field. They can only be unlocked with student IDs. Since none of us had a UKZN ID, we had to rely on random people to help us get through! I felt bad considering how many people are in our group.
3) Driving home was an adventure as well. We got a safe taxi but the taxi driver knew nothing about Cato Manor and how to get there. So we had to whip out our map of Cato and try to figure out how to get to Wiggins, the section we live in. After a while, we finally figured it all out and made it home safe.
Today, more Zulu lessons and lectures as well as a trip to the megamall. This weekend we're staying in downtown Durban so we can go out and about. We're planning on going to uShaka Marine world (which is one of the best aquariums in the world), Victoria Market (to get some sweet South African goods like skirts, scarves, and world cup tees) and the beach. Should be awesome!
miss you all!
Leah
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